


Stronger Than Death

by Mongoose_Mores



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate timeline but not OOC, Anxiety, Conflicted Will, Gray Asexual Will, Gray Asexual everyone...for now, Hannibal is Hannibal, Hannictober, Hannictober prompt: Vampires, Hannigram - Freeform, I know, I was surprised too, Intimacy, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, My first completed Hannigram ficlet so pls be nice, No Sex, Touching, True Love, Vampires, Will and Hannibal see a movie, Word Porn, angsty fluff, but not sexual word porn, for now, y'know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-20 01:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8231017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mongoose_Mores/pseuds/Mongoose_Mores
Summary: Will definitely shouldn't have had that last finger of whiskey. He feels the room slightly off kilter, which normally, wouldn't be that big of a deal. However everything was amplified tonight. Seeing Hannibal again for the first time in years, watching this film that he had never seen before, whose antagonist seemed to reach with its long white fingers into the caverns of his mind which he had so expertly protected with new forts. But his foundations were never the same. He knew that every night before he went to bed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Will and Hannibal are watching the Werner Herzog film “Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht” in a small independent theater, and the tension of having not seen each other in years becomes another audience member. Alcohol plays a part. Poor Will. I pictured this somewhere around S3, instead of Will going to Hannibal when he's in the BHCI to help find The Red Dragon, Hannibal is not imprisoned, and able to go see a movie. I was inspired by a combo. of Herzog's "Nosferatu", another vampire movie (you'll see), and Siouxsie's "Loveless", with a moment of help from The Vanishing's "Lovesick" (Thought "Loveless" was called "Lovesick". It's been a while).
> 
> Dracula: "He will not die"  
> Lucy: "Yes he will. Death is overwhelming. Eventually we all die. Stars fade and reel in confusion, Time passes in blindness, rivers flow without knowing their course, Only death is cruelly sure."  
> \- Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979), film  
> __________________________________________  
>   
> I remember everything  
> I can still recall the pain  
> I was left there for dead  
> Can't play this game again  
> To and fro and back again  
> It's senseless - I'm doubtless  
> -Siouxsie Sioux, “Loveless,” song  
> 

Will definitely shouldn't have had that last finger of whiskey. He feels the room slightly off kilter, which normally, wouldn't be that big of a deal. However everything was amplified tonight. Seeing Hannibal again for the first time in years, watching this film that he had never seen before, whose antagonist seemed to reach with its long white fingers into the caverns of his mind which he had so expertly protected with new forts.

But his foundations were never the same. He knew that every night before he went to bed.

He knew it was because of one man, and that man was now here in the flesh, sitting to his left in the darkened theater, watching the screen intently with a slight smile on his face and a wistful look. For the first time in what felt like a lifespan, their minds could touch each other again without the threat of distance.

Nosferatu had drawn closer from the shadows to the dark-haired woman in her bed. She had tried to push him away but was entranced as their eyes met. And then…

That was the scene that did it. He just couldn't stand it anymore. How he did manage to get through so much of this film. His mind palace could only produce so much distraction when he was in the presence of this man. And what a man he was. Confliction rose within him like bile and he attempted to abruptly stand up and make for the exit.

“Will, you seem unsteady. Come, let me help you to your feet.” The doctor stood from his seat and reached forward with outstretched hands ready to support the younger man.

“No…” Will panted unevenly. “I'm fine. I just need to get some air.” The phrase occurs to him as corny as soon as he says it, but his head is spinning and it was easier to say than other phrases.

Will made for the bathroom and was appreciative to find that it was only a single stall in this tiny theater. Thoughts rose up in him as he splashed cold water on his face, having to pause to steady himself against the sink.

He can't bear to walk through some of those old rooms in his memory palace. Not without tumbling head over heels back into his old life. He listens to the sounds of the cars driving by which meet his ears through the window screen, and their steadiness and predictability soothes him. They all have a set destination. Simple, straightforward path from one point to the next.

He wonders how long he can withstand it before falling down that deep hole once again, transfixed by the journey and unsure of the its plans for him.

Will flashed on the last bit of the film before he left the theater.

Dracula's inability to resist Lucy became the cause of his demise. He hungers for her and is unable to break away from that hunger, which Lucy knows all too well, and so she sacrifices herself to take him with her. It is a mutual ecstasy.

He could sense her pulse racing, then slowing as the creature cupped her breast and took his time on her neck. Draining her until dawn’s rays poked through the windowsill. Even though he was left expiring on the floor, she took him down deep within her breast, and there he would remain...her last thoughts before she passed.

That scene had brought him back to Hannibal's kitchen all that time ago. All those mistakes he couldn't take back. Mistakes on both sides.

Will was afraid. Afraid of his own potential. Afraid of the intense and palpable feeling of being known every time he looked into Hannibal’s eyes. Afraid of the lovesickness that threatened to claim him once more, welling up inside of him like molten earth.

Trying to detach himself from the resounding emotional and psychological layers of the situation, he found himself trying to analyze the film objectively. All things considered, he wasn’t sure if he preferred this version of Dracula, though it was well-made and he was a fan of Klaus Kinski. A quote rushed to his mind with the speed of a fishing line. Yes, yes. He much preferred that version of the story.

He heard a gentle tapping on the bathroom door. “ Will, may I come in?”  
Without any attempt to regain composure, Will opened the door. Hannibal approached him and placed his left hand to the side of Will’s face, through sweat-matted hair, his touch was soothing and the familiarity sent Will’s skin alight.

“Are you alright?” The older man's eyes took him in, enveloping him in compassion like a glove, which made Will shiver with the knowledge of past intimacy.

“I’m fine, I just got a little lightheaded was all,” Will stated as he stepped back slightly, rubbing his hands over his face. “I’ve just...got a lot on my mind right now.” Nervously he drummed his fingers on the kitchen sink, avoiding eye contact with Hannibal.

Hannibal regarded him as one would something precious, and Will made the mistake of glancing up to receive this information, aware of how his eyes betrayed him in relaying the same sentiment.

“Did you enjoy what you saw of the film? It was nearly over when you left,” Hannibal said.

“I… found it a little too familiar,” Will said steadily, his tone straddling the line between discomfort and an evenness he was trying to muster.

Hannibal cocked his head slightly, regarding Will’s last statement as he looked at the floor before meeting his eyes again.

“Did you imagine that things would be different. Seeing me again after all this time?”

Will blinked several times before responding, “I tried to have no real expectations. But…”

Hannibal’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly as if to say _yes, go on._

Will searched the room with his eyes, mouth agape. “I find that you have become as familiar to me as my loneliness once was.”

Hannibal smiled and Will observed that his smile radiated a warmth that transcended their current position in this small, dingy bathroom, and indeed, their circumstances.

“Familiarity does not necessarily indicate desire,” Hannibal stated with a playful tone.

Will widened his eyes to shoot Hannibal an annoyed look, though the ghost of a smile crept onto his twitching lips.

“Oh Doctor, what might we deduce about this situation?” Will said, feeling that hole form beneath his feet to swallow his legs. He sighed and closed his eyes, cocking his head to the side.

Hannibal approached him slowly, never breaking eye contact. Will met his gaze. When they were within each other's orbit once more, Hannibal ran his hands over Will’s chest, his right one coming to reside over Will’s heart. Somehow, Will knew what was coming. “Will…”, his eyes earnest and vast as he regarded the younger man, _“‘...I have crossed oceans of time to find you,’”_ Hannibal said, relinquishing the words as a gentle breeze flowed from the window.

**Author's Note:**

> Dracula: “Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose? That the luckiest man who walks on this earth is the one who finds... true love?”  
> \- Dracula (1992), film  
> ___________________________________________  
> Dracula: [having just spotted Mina in the streets of London] "See me. See me now."  
> \- Dracula (1992), film  
> ___________________________________________
> 
> This is probably my all-time favorite ship, and the first finished Hannigram fic I've done, so I hope everyone enjoyed it! I love comments and kudos. :)


End file.
